Delicious Bakeries and Patisseries in Sonoma County

Share this story

Sonoma County's bakeries and patisseries are known for crafting delicious baked goods. Enjoy your coffee with fresh pastries, cakes, pies, tarts, or savory baguettes at one of these wonderful cafes in wine country. You'll also find outdoor patios with great views.

'A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread, and Thou.' That pretty phrase was made famous by Persian poet Omar Khayyám in the 12th century, as an idea of what the perfect life could include. Well, Sonoma County certainly has the wine. And here are some of our favorite places for a beautiful loaf of bread. Now, all we need is thou.

A Healdsburg institution since 1923, the European-style bakery specializes in sourdough, rustic batards, and sweet French bread, plus crunchy-crust ciabatta, multigrain loaves fermented with a touch of molasses, and many other recipes that take 24 to 48 hours to craft.

Many people eat the bread plain or simply smeared with creamery butter, but you can also get the slices as sandwiches, like salami, sun-dried tomato, goat cheese and aioli, or as part of an all-day breakfast, where all plates include a bottomless Costeaux toast basket tempting with a variety of specialty breads.

The recipes here have been family treasures since 1956, and have survived in their delicious glory even as the café has changed hands over the years.

What keeps everyone coming back for more are the original sourdough and sweet French breads, the decadent pastries, and signatures like nearly two dozen flavors of croissants.

Moon pie Danish is magical, as are cranberry scones, apple strudel and apricot buttercream coffee cake. Linger over all-day breakfast like crepes, lunch like croquet monsieur, and be sure to order a treat for your pup on the dog-friendly patio.Details: 460 First St. E., Sonoma, 707-935-7687.

Yes, it's that Boudin, of San Francisco sourdough fame, and now there's an outlet in Santa Rosa, too. The Montgomery Village location keeps the classics, like that famous sourdough fashioned into a bowl and brimming with clam chowder, tomato, or butternut squash soup, or beef chili. You can get burgers on a baguette, pizza on sourdough crust, sandwiches of all kinds on fresh baked breads, and overstuffed grilled cheese combos like brie with apples and fig jam. Patio seating is peaceful, and a great way to start the day with an al fresco breakfast of sourdough French toast.Details: 2345 Midway Drive, Santa Rosa, 707-303-4100.

We might start simply with how to find this bakery. Follow Highway 12 about five miles past Sebastopol toward Bodega Bay, then journey up a steep hill after which you will descend into a beautiful valley. Turn right on Bohemian Highway and follow your nose to the wood-fired brick oven where bread master Jed Wallach churns out a dozen different kinds of organic, sourdough-based breads daily along with whipping crème scones, sticky buns, cheese fougasse, goat cheese flat bread, the Bohemian loaf (apricot, orange and pecan), the Egyptian loaf (pear, fig and candied ginger) and biscotti.

Relax and munch awhile in the lovely organic garden next to the open fields and barns, sipping a delicious coffee drink. Then, when something smells wonderful (it will), simply venture back into the bakery, to work your way through free samples and decide which delight you'll buy next.Details: 140 Bohemian Highway, Freestone, 707-874-2938.

Located inside the historic 150-year-old Stewarts Point Store on the scenic Sonoma County coast, Twofish Baking Company handcrafts a variety of delicious pastries and breads; the sticky buns and morning buns are local favorites. Everything is baked fresh daily, and it's wise to get there early for the best selection, because when an item is gone, it's gone for the day (the baked goods typically sell out).

The store also features handmade sandwiches, calzones, a soup of the day made from scratch, house-made soft serve ice cream, coffee, beer, wine, and old-time candies, as well as gift items like handmade scarves, aprons, and soaps crafted by local artisans. The store is open daily, but closed on Tuesdays in fall and winter. There’s a full bar upstairs, open only on Fridays for Pizza Night from 4-8:30 p.m.Details: 32000 Highway 1, Stewarts Point, 707-785-2011

This little hideaway amid the majestic old growth redwoods on the Russian River is one of West County's best-kept secrets.

It's an Inn, but also an enclave of great baking, turning out a jaw-dropping, mouthwatering array of baked-fresh-daily breads like rustic baguettes, traditional French, Pugliese, seeded sourdough, and French sourdough.

Depending on the whims of the baker-owners Mark and Elizabeth Weiss, there may be garlic-rosemary and kalamata olive-rosemary loaves, Parmesan focaccia, New York deli rye, 9–grain whole wheat, Italian ciabatta, onion rolls, or breads like buttermilk potato, semolina raisin, pumpernickel rye, and cinnamon-raisin swirl.

You know you need a towering, multi-tiered cake in shocking hues of lime green frosting. Or maybe a gold leaf wedding cake, or a cake shaped like a hot rod sports car and finished in cherry red ganache. This shop specializes in Mexican-inspired fantasies, not just whimsical-to-ravishing cakes, but also breads, pastries, cookies, and more, waiting to be plucked up from the display case with tongs and taken home to be cherished with coffee or chocolate caliente (hot chocolate).Details: 18981 Sonoma Highway, Sonoma, 707-996-8600.

Enjoy slow-cooked steak and cheese pie, sausage rolls, and other traditional New Zealand baked goods at the BurtoNZ Bakery in Windsor. Owners Warren and Bobbi Burton advertise it as Windsor's first and only New Zealand-style artisanal bakery.

The menu includes savory items, like steak pie topped with mashed potatoes or a breakfast pie stuffed with bacon and eggs. Or, munch on sweets such as pastry-encased custard squares topped with icing, cream-stuffed baked donuts, or lamingtons - little sponge cakes coated in chocolate, then dipped in coconut.

A native of New Zealand, Warren Burton met his wife Bobbi in Sonoma County. They married in New Zealand and ran a bakery there before moving back to California in 2001. They opened BurtoNZ Bakery in December 2014.Details: 9076 Brooks Road S., Windsor, 707-687-5455

People come from all over to visit this artisan bakery and European style café, housed in the circa-1860 U.S. Bakery Building in downtown Petaluma. The name Della Fattoria means 'of the farm,' and their breads, pastries, and all of their foods have roots in the soil of their farm on the west side of Petaluma. The bakers pride themselves on good, slow food that honors 'place' and the surrounding culture and culinary bounty.